Solar Bears – She Was Coloured In

For all the undoubtedly great and varied music that’s been released on this fair isle in recent times, it’s strange how few Irish bands have made an impact on the non-Irish blogosphere. One possible reason for this is that the more influential blogs tend to favour certain types of music or trends over others: at the moment, sci-fi-influenced electronic soundscapes or shadowy ‘witch house’ are very much in, while the heavier, more

Solar Bears She Was Coloured In

Things usually fare well for film geeks when they show a passion for making music. By film “geeks”, I’m not referring to that friend who can name every David Lynch or Lars von Trier film. They might know every underground film in existence, but if they have no knowledge of production or the film aesthetic than they are merely a critic (and probably more

Solar Bears - She Was Coloured In

Since disco’s colonisation by hirsute Scandinavians it’s become far cooler to hoard records with galaxy vistas on their sleeves than it should be. Dublin duo Solar Bears may follow a similar path to Prins Thomas et al – stretching sheer synths and languid beats into prog oblivion – but they plot the course with sun spots in their eyes. The results are charming, taking Vangelis-style futurism (‘Twin Stars’), cosmic disco galvinised more

She Was Coloured In Planet Mu ****

This may well be what sweet dreams sound like. Dublin/Wicklow duo John Kowalski and Rian Trench have been winning friends over the last couple of months with their beautifully pitched, often pastoral, occasionally somnolent, sometimes visceral and always intriguing electronica. While their sound traces similar lines to the likes of Boards of Canada, Ultramarine and Aphex Twin, there are enough individual touches to keep you hooked. What separates more